Science education for the next generation

FULDA There is a colourful hustle and bustle on the campus of Fulda University of Applied Sciences: for a fortnight, primary and secondary school students will be enriching the area as the MINT Lab Days take place once again. MINT stands for mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. However, there is not only a lot going on on campus, but also with the cooperation partners from the Fulda region, who together with the Fulda University of Applied Sciences' MINTmachClub train a network for the funding of young talent. In total, more than 1900 children and young people from 88 school classes in the region are once again taking part in the network's series of events this spring - a new record. "It is unusual for such projects to run so successfully for so long and even continue to grow. Alongside our cooperation partners, my thanks therefore go first and foremost to the MINTmachClub team and the school cooperation for their tireless efforts," emphasises Prof. Dr Jörg Kreiker, Vice-President for Learning and Teaching and Teaching Digitisation at Fulda University of Applied Sciences.

The almost 90 workshops once again include new offers: Among other things, students can learn about the journey of water droplets in the Gläserzell sewage treatment plant via the Environmental Centre or go gliding on the Wasserkuppe. "The first class has already been there and all the participants were thrilled. The visit to the paragliding school also went down very well. There, the kids were allowed to swing in a paraglider harness," reports Uli Braune from the Gliding Museum. This is one of the three new cooperation partners for the MINT lab days. The enterprise FFT Produktionssysteme and the Improtheater Fulda are also new this year. Meanwhile, the children and young people in the Kreuz cultural centre listen spellbound to the workshop leaders, who give a crash course in DJing and sound engineering. Participants in the MINT lab days also explore the topic of nutrition. "It's a great feeling to give pupils the opportunity to become little researchers themselves," says Natallia Kazlouskaya-Disagio, who is offering the workshop "Carbohydrates: Evidence and Digestion" for the first time with her colleagues.

Now 14 cooperation partners at the MINT Lab Days
The STEM Lab Days will celebrate their tenth anniversary in autumn 2026. It all began in 2016 with twenty school classes and around 400 participants. Coordinator and initiator Sandra Blum summarises: "We are delighted that more cooperation partners have joined the course in its anniversary year and are enriching our program with exciting workshops. Without the now 14 cooperation partners of Fulda University of Applied Sciences, a course of this magnitude would not be possible." The crowning degree of every day on campus is lunch in the cafeteria - Frank Vogel and his team make sure that the 1000 or so students taking part in workshops at the university go home full and satisfied. Thanks also go to the LNG Fulda transport service, which reserved the buses for the school classes travelling to the Wasserkuppe in advance, emphasises Sandra Blum.

A lot of preparation and organisational work is required to ensure that the MINT Lab Days run smoothly. For example, the workshop leaders have been trained in advance by Tobias Dorn and his team from the health science department on the topic of paediatric resuscitation training. Special thanks are also due to workshop leader Bodo Pfisterer, who has been involved in the MINT Lab Days from the very beginning and has contributed workshops in the basic laboratory of the electrical engineering department for ten years. He will be taking his well-deserved retirement at the end of the year. "I always enjoyed the MINT workshops. The participants were always eager to get stuck in and their results were impressive. However, this would not have been possible without my helpers, so I would like to thank them once again." Bodo Pfisterer, for example, also dismantled the 25 Cozmo robots used for primary school workshops by other colleagues into individual parts and fitted them with larger batteries.

The MINT Lab Days will continue until 26 March. The date for the next course has already been set: 14 to 22 September. Registration options for school classes and further information will be published at hs-fulda.de/mint-labortage. Teaching staff who would like to be informed of dates by email can contact MINTmachClub@verw.hs-fulda.de.

Background to the MINT lab days
In cooperation with numerous MINT stakeholders from the region, Fulda University of Applied Sciences has been organising the popular series of courses for school classes of all school types for grades 3 to 10 since 2016. Information and the program can be found at hs-fulda.de/kooperieren/schulen/mintmachclub-fulda

The workshops at Fulda University of Applied Sciences are offered by the departments of Applied Computer Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Nutritional, Food and Consumer Sciences, Health Sciences and IT Support. Cooperation partners are Chemikum Marburg, Hans-Nüchter-Sternwarte Fulda, University, State and Public Library Fulda, Kinder-Akademie Fulda, Fuldaer Kinder- und Jugendtreff Zitrone, Menschen & Medien e.V., Kulturzentrum Kreuz e.V., offenes Labor Fulda (oLaF), Stiftung Kinder forschen - Netzwerkpartner VHS Landkreis Fulda, Umweltzentrum Fulda, Vonderau Museum. The Wasserkuppe Gliding Museum, the enterprise FFT Produktionssysteme and the Improtheater Fulda are participating as additional cooperation partners for the first time this year.

The MINTmachClub Fulda is one of the five MINT regions in Hesse. There are currently 157 MINT regions across Germany, each of which endeavours to shape MINT education in an effective and sustainable way through various local offers. This network is organised by the Körber Foundation based in Hamburg. Sandra Blum's MINT Lab Days concept was recognised by the Körber Foundation in 2023 as an example of best practice in the area of "collaboration between non-school and school cooperation partners". All information can be found at mint-regionen.de